Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

How I Found: This one was laying around in the lake cabin, but I was tempted by the two intertwined tales of Havana in 1958 and Miami in 2017. Getting to travel not only between two locales but two time periods added to my understanding of the Cuban Revolution while highlighting the distinction between those who left and those who were left behind. Both Elisa and Marisol find themselves unwittingly wrapped up in romance, but it is weighted in the disparities of those with and without privilege.
Why You Might Read: Surprisingly this book provides a parallel in many ways to the situation in which the US finds itself in 2020. Those who have been lucky enough to be born into the “haves” are forced to look within and recognize their role in holding back the “have-nots.” Like Marisol, we need to recognize, “The line between hero and villain is a precariously fragile one,” and like her we get to decide which side of the line we stand on regardless of the circumstances of our birth.